PREVENTING DRUG USE AMONG ADOLESCENTS

Regarding Joanne Peterson's Speakout column on Feb. 12/13, the importance of
parental involvement in preventing adolescent drug use cannot be overstated.
School-based extracurricular activities also have been shown to reduce use.
They keep kids busy during the hours they're most likely to get into
trouble.

In order for drug prevention efforts to effectively reduce drug-related
harm, they must be reality-based. The most popular drug and the one most
closely associated with violent behavior is often overlooked by parents.
That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more lives each year than all illegal
drugs combined.

For decades, school-based drug prevention efforts have been dominated by
sensationalist programs like Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE). Good
intentions are no substitute for effective drug education. Independent
evaluations of DARE have found the program to be either ineffective or
counterproductive. The scare tactics used do more harm than good.

Drug education programs must be reality-based or they may backfire when kids
are inevitably exposed to drug use among their peers.

The following U.S. Government Accounting Office report confirms my claims
regarding DARE: www.gao.gov/new.items/d03172r.pdf.

ROBERT SHARPE, MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington,
D.C.